Main:Irina Sazonova
Vologda, Vologda Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR |Row 4 title = Years on National Team |Row 4 info = 2014-present (ISL); 2005-2012 (RUS) |Row 5 title = Club |Row 5 info = Fimleikadeild Armanns |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Active}}Irina Sazonova (Russian: Ирина Сазонова; born September 2 in Vologda, Vologda Oblast) is a Russian-born Icelandic gymnast. Prior to her move to Iceland, she represented Russia at the 2011 Universiade. She has represented Iceland at the 2015 Northern European Championships and World Championships, and became the first female Icelandic gymnast at the Olympics, competing in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She currently resides in Reykjavik and trains at Fimleikadeild Armanns. She is one of only a handful of gymnasts, including Aliya Mustafina, Oksana Chusovitina, and Marta Pihan-Kulesza, to return to gymnastics after having a child. Career Russia Sazonova made her international debut as a junior, competing at the 2005 WOGA Classic in Texas. She won bronze on vault, and placed fifth in the all-around and floor exercise, sixth on uneven bars, and thirteenth on balance beam. As a senior, she competed at the Russian Championships in 2010, winning team bronze, and placing fifth on floor and thirteenth in the all-around. She was sent to compete at the Cottbus World Cup the following year, but did not make the event finals. Later that year, she competed at the Universiade, winning team bronze, and placing sixth on uneven bars and seventh in the all-around. Iceland Sazonova made the move to Russia in 2014, with her change in nationality and international representation becoming official later that year. Her first international competition representing Iceland was the Voronin Cup in her native Russia, but she did not make the event finals. The following year, she competed at the Northern European Championships, winning uneven bars gold, floor exercise bronze, and placing fourth in the all-around. She also competed at the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, but did not make the event finals. At the Voronin Cup at the end of the year, she placed sixth in the all-around and uneven bars and eighth on balance beam. In April 2016, she competed at the Olympic Test Event. She placed thirty-ninth in the all-around, qualifying as an individual for the Olympics. She later competed at the Nordic Championships, winning team and uneven bars gold, vault silver, and placing fifth in the all-around. In June, she competed at the European Championships in Switzerland, but did not make the event finals. Rio Olympics Sazonova competed in the fourth subdivision of qualifications, starting on vault. She placed fortieth in the all-around, fifty-eighth on uneven bars, sixtieth on floor exercise, and sixty-fourth on balance beam. Following Rio, she placed sixth on uneven bars and seventh on vault at the Cottbus World Cup in November. In December, she competed at the Voronin Cup, winning silver on vault, bronze on bars and beam, and placing fourth in the all-around and sixth with her team and on floor. 2017 Sazonova competed at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada. While she did achieve Iceland's best all-around placing (37th), she didn't advance to the all-around or event finals. After the World Championships, she competed at the Northern European Championships in Denmark, winning team and all-around silver, and placing fifth on bars, seventh on floor, and eighth on beam. She rounded off the year at the Voronin Cup in December, winning all-around and uneven bars bronze, and placing fourth with her team, fifth on floor, and eighth on beam. 2018 Sazonova started off her season at the Reykjavik International Games in early February, winning uneven bars gold, all-around silver, and placing fourth on beam and floor and fifth on vault. She took time off from gymnastics when she gave birth to her first child in December.first child 2019 Sazonova returned to competition at the Paris World Cup in September, but didn't make the event finals. In October, she competed at the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, but didn't make any individual events or qualify individually to the 2020 Olympics. Medal Count Floor Music 2017 - “Sarabande” by Maksim Mrvica References